Propose to have cities buy power generated from waste: Piyush Goyal

New Delhi:Local bodies in India will compulsorily need to purchase any electricity generated from city waste as per a proposal under the new tariff policy, Power Minister Piyush Goyal said on Tuesday.

“Besides, every bit of water waste water coming out of cities that can be reprocessed must be compulsorily used by electricity plants, so that the clean water is available for use by citizens,” Goyal said here while giving away the Jubilant Bhartia Foundation’s “Social Entrepreneur of Year-India 2015 award.

These changes, he said, were being proposed were to help India realise its commitments towards tackling climate change.

“Our policy is to encourage the processing of garbage and its conversion to wealth, in this case being electricity,” the minister said.

He told reporters on the sidelines of the event that the new tariff policy would provide incentives to renewable energy projects as well as to those power generation plants that are efficiently using conventional sources of energy.

On resolving the issues of debt-ridden power distribution companies across the country, he said the ministry would soon approach the cabinet with a proposal that has been worked out. He added that the state-run distribution companies’ losses are around Rs.60,000 crore.

Goyal also the government has set a target of replacing regular bulbs with LED bulbs in the next three years, which will save 20,000 MW power and 10,000 crore units of electricity per annum.

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are known for their potential of achieving higher efficiency and low production costs compared to traditional silicon solar cells.
Pixabay

Chinese researchers have found that solar cells can retain most of their power conversion efficiency in near space, providing perspectives on the cells’ future application in space.

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are known for their potential of achieving higher efficiency and low production costs compared to traditional silicon solar cells.

These cells also have great potential for developing the new-generation energy technology for space application, but little research has been done to test the stability of PSCs in the extreme space environment, Xinhua news agency reported.

In the study, researchers from China’s Peking University sent the devices fixed with PSCs into near space on a high-altitude balloon.

These cells also have great potential for developing the new-generation energy technology for space application, but little research has been done to test the stability of PSCs in the extreme space environment, Xinhua news agency reported. Piixabay

The balloon rose to near space at an altitude of 35 km, a region above Earth’s atmosphere where there is only a trace amount of moisture and ozone.

The region, considered to have “air mass zero” contains no atmospheric attenuation of solar radiation and therefore several high-energy particles and radiation, such as neutrons, electrons and gamma rays, originate from the galactic cosmic rays and solar flares.

Chinese researchers have found that solar cells can retain most of their power conversion efficiency in near space, providing perspectives on the cells’ future application in space.Pixabay

According to the findings, one type of PSCs used in the study retained more than 95 per cent of its initial power conversion efficiency during the test, the researchers reported in the journal Science China Physics, Mechanics and Astronomy.

They said the study is expected to play a crucial role in the future stability research of PSCs. (IANS)